SPEAKER_00: Well, it's so nice to see you all.
SPEAKER_00: This looks very different since the last time I was up here.
SPEAKER_00: The chairs are different.
SPEAKER_00: I think we have a faithful few in the middle, though.
SPEAKER_00: Like uh have you guys been to a Spurs game and they've got the really crazy people with the like spiked hair and the things.
SPEAKER_00: They're what do they call them?
SPEAKER_00: Like the Mad Hatters group or something?
SPEAKER_00: Where's the turtleys?
SPEAKER_00: What do they call those crazy people?
SPEAKER_00: The jackals.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they're called.
SPEAKER_00: They're the jackals.
SPEAKER_00: We need some of you to be our jackals and like take over the middle section here because uh it tends to be anyway.
SPEAKER_00: We're so glad that you guys are there.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, uh, we're gonna be talking the next actually couple semesters.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be walking this year on during our recharge through what we're calling a little survey of the global church.
SPEAKER_00: We want to introduce you to this idea that God has been pursuing all of the nations since the very beginning of time.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna walk you through little bits and pieces along the way to kind of help you get a glimpse of how big a deal this is to the Father that we love and serve.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to start today by saying it's all been about his glory from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to just stop for a second and ask you what that word glory means.
SPEAKER_00: Um, have you ever received glory in any event or achievement?
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm gonna show you a picture, it's a little embarrassing.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's from my childhood, and you can try to figure out which skinny white kid uh is me in that picture, and uh it's yellow, I know, and it's old, that's why.
SPEAKER_00: This is probably from like 1993 or 1994.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I was on the basketball team, a little tiny town called Omaha, Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00: Does anybody know where Omaha, Arkansas is?
SPEAKER_00: It's a town of 300 people, and uh you used to drive through it on your way to Branson, Missouri, and then they built a road around it, so you don't have to go through it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so uh on that basketball team, I I got to be one of the star players, if you get a star player in a 1B school.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so one week we were playing our rival, and I had a really good game.
SPEAKER_00: I had 24 points, but as we came down to the waiting seconds, we were behind by two with a few seconds left.
SPEAKER_00: We had the ball, and the coach told me to run through some screens, and they were gonna pass me the ball in the quarter.
SPEAKER_00: And if I was open, I should shoot the three.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, you've seen the movies, you know exactly how this is set up.
SPEAKER_00: So I get to the corner, they throw me the ball, and I shoot it, and right as the buzzer goes off, the ball goes through, we win the game.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00: It was uh it was one of those moments for me where I was like, finally, like sports was my way to like make people like me.
SPEAKER_00: It was my way to try to get into that crowd, and for about two whole seconds I was in.
SPEAKER_00: I was there, and and and I want you to know there's so many people in this world that chase that moment as if it's the only thing that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: You you might get a taste of it in a in a as an athlete, or you might get a taste of it if you have some major achievement.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you finally get that promotion that you're looking for.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, maybe you get a taste of what glory is.
SPEAKER_00: It's where people have some sort of high value, some sort of high praise, something that makes you feel that you're worth the honor and this distinction.
SPEAKER_00: So this is a definition from the dictionary that says that glory is great honor, praise, or distinction given by common consent.
SPEAKER_00: It's magnificent beauty or splendor.
SPEAKER_00: When you're talking about the divine, you think of words like adoration or thanksgiving or praise, you think of adding ultimate value and renown for our God most high.
SPEAKER_00: And so when you think about this idea of glory and how it relates to our scriptures, there's so many places where you see God's glory on display, and almost always it's for the nations or in view of the nations, or so that the other nations will see how he's interacting with his own people.
SPEAKER_00: I want to draw your attention to Habakkuk 2.14.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of those beautiful verses that says, For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
SPEAKER_00: How much glory is that?
SPEAKER_00: How much water is in the sea?
SPEAKER_00: A lot.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: This is a picture of what God expects to receive from the nations is the glory due to his name.
SPEAKER_00: It's this idea that he created all of us in his image so that we would reflect him, so that he is glorified in us at all times.
SPEAKER_00: So every single person on the face of the earth was created to be a worshiper of the God of God most high.
SPEAKER_00: So if you could total up what could be the scope of the worship that God could receive if all, what are we fast, eight billion now?
SPEAKER_00: If all eight billion of us were worshiping him, how much glory would God receive?
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: So there's a place, I love this verse from the Old Testament where God in Genesis 15 tells Noah, Abraham, he tells Abraham, look at the look up at the stars and count them if you can.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, So will your descendants be.
SPEAKER_00: And we read that verse and we immediately were thinking about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and eventually the Israelites.
SPEAKER_00: But later in the New Testament it says, those who are in Christ are descendants of Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want you to think the scope of God's desire is that people from all the nations of the earth would be bringing him glory and worship, and that's the big point.
SPEAKER_00: Last week Jason introduced this whole topic by starting with Genesis chapter 12, 1 through 4, where he was talking about Abraham's promise that Abraham was told by God that he would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him, and all of the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine the weight that sat on Abraham's shoulders when he realized that God was saying that through you, Abraham, all of the nations of the world would be blessed?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that that Galatians chapter 3, 8 and 9 says that that place right there where God's speaking to Abraham, Paul writes that it was the gospel shared in advance to Abraham, saying that God at that moment was saying to Abraham that all of the nations would be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul continues to say that we'll be blessed in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The ultimate blessing of Abraham is the person of Jesus, who's made himself available to the nations.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to show you today, and this is where we're gonna spend most of our time, the next 10 minutes or so, we're gonna look at this incredible psalm at Psalm 96.
SPEAKER_00: There's actually so many psalms that talk about God's heart for the nations and God's heart for the worship of the nations.
SPEAKER_00: But turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 96 and read this with me.
SPEAKER_00: There's 12 verses, and we're just gonna walk through them.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to think about the scope of the worship that God is expecting.
SPEAKER_00: And the psalmist here is talking about what it means for God to receive glory from all the peoples of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: So it starts in verse 1, it says, Sing to the Lord a new song.
SPEAKER_00: Sing to the Lord all the earth.
SPEAKER_00: Sing to the Lord and praise his name, proclaim his salvation day after day.
SPEAKER_00: Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples.
SPEAKER_00: You should underline every place in this song where you see all the earth, all the peoples, among the nations.
SPEAKER_00: Because again, I want you to see the scope.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a people that God wants worship from, it's a people so that all the peoples of the earth will worship him.
SPEAKER_00: His calling has never been for a singular group.
SPEAKER_00: It's been that through any group he could get access to all of them.
SPEAKER_00: So go on to verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.
SPEAKER_00: He is to be feared above all gods.
SPEAKER_00: I like the lower G gods.
SPEAKER_00: For the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
SPEAKER_00: Splendor and majesty are before him, strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
SPEAKER_00: Keep going, verse 7 says, Ascribe to the Lord all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
SPEAKER_00: Ascribe to the Lord the glory do his name, bringing an offering, and come into his courts.
SPEAKER_00: Worship the Lord in splendor of his holiness, tremble before him all the earth.
SPEAKER_00: Say to the nations, The Lord reigns, the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved, and he will judge the peoples with equity.
SPEAKER_00: And then verse eleven through thirteen, it finishes this way It says, The Lord, let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the seas resound and all that is in it, let the fields be jubilant and everything in them, let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
SPEAKER_00: Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth, and he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing.
SPEAKER_00: In this really short, almost TED Talk type of sermon here, what I want you to see is that God has a purpose for you that goes far beyond your own salvation.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I would say that God saved you for a purpose that goes beyond you.
SPEAKER_00: If you listen to our missions podcast, and we're about to we're about to surpass our hundredth episode, it's crazy, we've had that many.
SPEAKER_00: Uh as we surpass this hundredth episode, we're we're we focus on this word from Psalm 67 that says so that.
SPEAKER_00: And it's this idea that God saved us so that through us, he can use the people that we interact with, he can use us to engage the lost around us.
SPEAKER_00: You are never the final link in the chain, you're the next link in the chain.
SPEAKER_00: And the scope of where it ends is that same promise he gave to Abraham, and the very end point is the very nations.
SPEAKER_00: It's the people around us that are far from God.
SPEAKER_00: And so he has reached you so that through you he can reach others.
SPEAKER_00: And your purpose goes far beyond your own salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It's an incredible thing that we get to have the hope of the gospel that transforms us and helps us become more like him, so that our affections are like him and our goals are like his.
SPEAKER_00: The things that he cares about becomes the things that we care about.
SPEAKER_00: And so every single one of us has an opportunity not only to reflect God's glory, to give him all that we are, to worship him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
SPEAKER_00: But we also have the opportunity to love our neighbors, to care for those who are hurting around us, to be a conduit of the gospel into their life.
SPEAKER_00: And so, my question to you, very simply, is are you reflecting God's glory to the world around you?
SPEAKER_00: When people see your life, do they glorify the Father in heaven because of the way you're acting and the way you're living and the way they see him moving and working through you and around you and in you?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's the very picture of what a godly follower of Jesus looks like.
SPEAKER_00: Is someone who reflects God's glory and then returns and sees that glory reflected in the people around them as well.
SPEAKER_00: And so be a people who are positioned to show God's love to the world around you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've been watching the news, but it's been a terrible thing these last few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: There's earthquakes everywhere, there's fires and floods, there's uh all kinds of devastation going on, there's wars and threats of wars, there's challenges at every place, and the world is desperate to find hope.
SPEAKER_00: And we carry it with us every day, wherever we go.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you saw today there was a terrible flood in Nepal.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think there's gonna be several thousand people missing or dead because of this flood, and it was uh a glacier dam, it looks like, just released high in the mountains and it just flowed down into these valleys.
SPEAKER_00: There's a hundred-foot wave moving over a hundred miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you can imagine.
SPEAKER_00: The pictures are devastating.
SPEAKER_00: And I know friends who've been working in Nepal for these last many years, and I think I'm sure that they've been thinking about what it would take for those people who have never heard the gospel to hear the gospel for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder if they thought, ah, what did it take for somebody to stand in those valleys, someone to share the hope of Jesus, because you just really never know what tomorrow's gonna bring.
SPEAKER_00: And so I ask you guys today, for one, are you living in a way that reflects God's glory?
SPEAKER_00: And two, are you looking for ways to proclaim that glory to those around you?
SPEAKER_00: You know, as a church, we have a passion to take the gospel to the least places, the last places, the places where the gospel's never been.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and we're blessed to have people coming and going who are visiting us, talking about and sharing with us how God is moving among the nations.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to tell you, these verses that we just read, it's the core.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a new thing, it's not even a New Testament thing.
SPEAKER_00: This has been the heart of God since the very beginning to engage the variations that He's sent out from Babel.
SPEAKER_00: And we're closer to seeing that happen than ever before.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you that we're so thankful, church, for the way that you contribute, the way that you live, the way that you pour your hearts into this.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that you don't grow weary.
SPEAKER_00: Don't grow weary of doing good.
SPEAKER_00: God is using it to do great things.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for the world.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for those people who are hurting.
SPEAKER_00: I would just ask you to pray for the people of Nepal today.
SPEAKER_00: These pictures and videos are gonna be just so heart-wrenching as they continue to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And many who've lost lives.
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight, uh, as we close, I just want to ask you to pray with me and pray that God would use us to reflect his glory to those around us.
SPEAKER_00: Can you do that?
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for your love.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you pour yourself out in a way that none of us could envy the suffering that you endured, the terrible atrocity that you endured, God, so that you could purchase people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
SPEAKER_00: God, we pray that we would live lives worthy of your sacrifice, worthy of your love, worthy of your honor.
SPEAKER_00: We pray, God, that we would reflect your glory.
SPEAKER_00: That God, those around us would see your work in us and give you glory.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about your glory.
SPEAKER_00: We pray, God, that you would receive all of the honor due to your name.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray, God, that you would be glorified in our actions, in our life, in our church, in our community.
SPEAKER_00: And that, Father, you would receive all that's due.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: Be glorified in us.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, in a few minutes, there's gonna be uh class right here, the threads class, uh, at 6.30.
SPEAKER_00: In five minutes, they're gonna let the kids in over in the children's area, which is our normal FLB.
SPEAKER_00: Notice there's part of the building missing on your way out.
SPEAKER_00: That was yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, we hope you have a wonderful night.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any other questions, you got other guys here who know what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: Choirs in the back.
SPEAKER_00: Have a wonderful night.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you guys.